Okay, I think we all need to take a deep breath. Yes, crazy, unexpected things have happened. And yes, there are several times in the past election season and since that I have been genuinely scared for the future. But it is going to be okay in the end, especially if we take this election as a lesson.
For the record, I did not vote for Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump. Yes, I live in Pennsylvania, and yes, I know that makes me terrible to some people. But my vote is my vote and I would like to politely ask you to mind your own business. I include this in this article only to point out how I disagree strongly enough on certain things with both of the candidates and have enough issues with both candidates' character that I could not vote for either of them in good conscience.
Immediately after Trump won, I was shocked. Then I got a little depressed. I mean, a large percentage of our population voted for someone I kind of find despicable. And another large portion voted for someone else I find despicable. Then people started protesting and I got more depressed. What are you protesting? That unlike in so many nations in this world, we had an election with relatively little criminal activity (even if it was nastier than usual and the criminal activity of the actual candidates higher than usual) and that the loser of said election is conceding defeat and transfer of power is going from one political party to the other relatively peacefully? Are you trying to make sure it isn't peaceful? And then some of the disgusting variety of people in the county started acting more publicly and confidently disgusting to minorities. And then the Hitler card started to get thrown around in complete seriousness. And by this point, I was feeling more down about my fellow Americans than just the numbers from a vote could ever make me feel.
I didn't agree with either of the candidates to a point that I couldn't vote for them. But I have friends that voted for both sides. And they are good people. None of them are these crazy people threatening minorities or plotting to kill Trump. And this is what has made me feel a lot better about the whole thing: While the vast majority of the population of this country voted for individuals I found I could not vote for due to moral and ideological objections, it is still quite possible (and dare I hope likely), that the vast majority of people are still good people.
We need to all calm down enough to understand a few things. These points make me feel a lot better; hopefully they will help someone else too. Since Trump is the one elected, I am going to stop discussing Clinton at this point, but much of the same ideas would apply if the tables were turned.
Not everyone who votes one way is in complete agreement with others who voted the same way or even the candidate they voted for. There is a big difference between people who voted for Trump and the angry, hateful, racist, misogynistic, stereotypical Trump supporter. While that person does exist (stereotypes do come from somewhere), he or she is not 46.5% of the population. For example, I know people who voted for Trump who also work on a volunteer basis to help refugees, which is bizarre if we believe that the caricature of Trump voters is the rule for all of them.
Not everyone who has a different opinion than I do is wrong. It is fun to be right. And by definition, if I have an opinion, I think I am right. But it is also important to allow for the possibility that I am wrong or even in some cases if I am right that others are right too. Our government (and many other governments) were built based on the assumption that people are wrong sometimes. Everyone will at some point be wrong. So yes, I think deporting all illegal immigrants and building a wall is a ridiculous solution to our illegal immigrant situation, but it is possible I am wrong. We need to listen to the people we disagree with and be open to the possibility that they might actually be right--if not entirely--about some aspect of the issue. Otherwise, we are just being rather full of ourselves and will still eventually have to admit that we were wrong about something when the results of our inevitable mistakes play out.
Not everyone I disagree with is evil. I am none too happy with a lot of what Trump says. His behavior toward women would be one example. But even if this specific behavior is in fact wrong or even evil, it does not make Trump necessarily evil (though believe me, I don't think he is any pillar of the community). But more importantly it certainly doesn't make everyone who voted for Trump evil. We often make the other side out to be pure evil: This Republican is the literal reincarnation of Hitler or that Democrat sold his or her soul to the devil and now carries around this tube of demons like Rasputin in Anastasia. And yes, people can do evil things and there are always evil things happening in the world. But people can also do good things and often some of the bad things people do are just misguided attempts to do good. Furthermore, what is in fact good or bad can be a matter of opinion (giving money to beggars on the street for instance) and, as we already discussed, our opinions can in fact be wrong.
Our government was specifically designed to allow for the people in the government to be flawed. Of course it would be great if our leaders were perfect. If they were, we would hardly need the convoluted checks and balances we have. But as the government is organized no one person has that much power and the most productive people are those that are willing to work with others by listening to those they disagree with and admitting to being wrong sometimes. While the Republican Party had a seeming considerable victory, the Republican party has been far from united recently. Trump may have won, but if he is going to get anything done he is going to have to get people to agree with him, and not the crazy stereotypical Trump supporter, but members of congress of both parties, some of whom who have publicly denounced him. And the greater the refusal to cooperate between these public servants, the slower the progress (or digression) of the government will be. There is only so much Trump can do in 4 years, and that amount will be greatly reduced unless he learns to play nice. Furthermore, if he steps entirely out of line and ticks off enough people, congress can actually remove him from office.
In the end, we are the ones with the power. You can claim #notmypresident all you like, but we as a country elected that president. And we as a country get to decide what happens next. Yes, this is a new era, and I didn't get the hand I would choose if I got to stack the deck, but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad era. Our government was initially set up to be run more on a local than federal level and it can still function that way. So if you don't like what is happening in Washington D.C. and can't move there to change it, change what is happening where you live; ultimately, that will have the greatest impact on your everyday life.
